Epiphany
by Grumpy Robin
Summary: A number of folk have expressed the opinion that the ending of Frozen is a bit rushed, and I am of like mind. Below is a little offering that stretches Elsa's endgame "enlightenment" out a bit. Based on the premise that the Snow Queen still doesn't feel very good about herself. A bit of sibling conflict, tears, hugs, and reconciliation. Insert right after Anna thaws.


Anna thaws out. In disbelief, Elsa takes a step back, then reaches out and touches her restored sister.)

"You sacrificed yourself for me,?" asks Elsa in disbelief.

"Elsa, I love you," responds Anna.

Elsa ponders that sentiment for a moment, then, realizing that she is physically contacting Anna, quickly releases her. Very distraught, Elsa starts backing away in retreat.

"Anna, how could you possibly love me anymore? I almost killed you! This disaster is all my fault. Everything I do causes pain! … I have to face it: I am a horrible monster. … I don't deserve love," she wails.

Anna pursues, and replies rather sternly, "Elsa, stop it! That's an awful thing to say! You have an extraordinarily kind and loving heart, and it most certainly deserves love in return. But right now it's frightened and confused and has lost its way. Come back home, and your heart will once again find its true path."

Still backing, Elsa counters, "No, I have to leave. If I stay, I'll just make this already terrible catastrophe worse."

Anna pursues, "You don't know that. Don't be pessimistic! After all, moments ago there was a blinding snowstorm; now it has let up. That's a step in the right direction! It seems as if the more upset you are, the stormier it is. So, come back home. We can be in our rooms, but this time the doors will be open! Once you're comfortable in a familiar setting, surrounded by those who love you, things will get better. I just know they will."

Elsa continues her retreat, "But Anna, all the people are afraid of me. They hate me!"

Anna pursues relentlessly, hands folded over her heart, earnestly pleading with her older sister, "No, Elsa, like me, the people never knew about your … your power. When you revealed it at the coronation, they were shocked, as was I. But that will pass. All you have to do is to come back home, and the people will see you as the beautiful person you really are. In no time at all, they will come to love you as much as I do. You're their queen, Elsa! They want their queen!"

Elsa abruptly stops retreating. Anna's dogged persistence annoys the Snow Queen, and she gets cross with her younger sibling, "Anna! You don't understand! I'm dangerous! I'll just end up hurting you again! For your own sake, you have to forget about me!"

Exasperated by her sister's stubbornness and stung by her rebuke, Anna finally loses it. She lets out a long primal scream, then continues, ferocious and raging.

Literally screaming, Anna responds:  
"No, Elsa, YOU don't understand! YOU don't understand! I don't CARE if you're dangerous or not! I JUST DON'T CARE! Why in the name of everything that is holy can you NOT get that ridiculously simple concept through YOUR THICK SKULL?" "I cannot BELIEVE that you blocked me from your life and kept me in the dark because you thought you were "just looking out for Anna." Thirteen years. Thir…teen…YEARS of "go away, Anna." No explanation, just "go away," because you didn't want to … HURT ME?! As if you WEREN'T?! … … EVERY SINGLE DAY?!"

With authoritarian anger, Anna continues,  
"Well let me hope to tell you, Elsa, we're not going down THAT road anymore! Your being my big sister does NOT confer upon YOU the right to dictate to ME what *I* have to do for my own good! In case you haven't noticed, I'M in charge of that now, NOT YOU! If I'm willing to risk injury or even death to be with you again, then that's MY choice, and nobody is going to stop me."  
"And do not even think about running from me, for that will be in vain. As long as I draw the breath of life, I will follow you, and I will find you. And when I do, you will have two options: Either you embrace me … or you slay me in my tracks, because this time, I shall stand fast and let your snow fiend kill me. In the end, I will be reunited with you … or dead; there will be NO middle ground."

Shrieking at the top of her lungs, Anna finishes her tirade, "So don't you DARE push me away to protect me, Elsa of Arendelle! _DON'T YOU DARE_!"

Elsa is on the verge of tears, speechless and clearly terrified by the unprecedented fury emanating from her baby sister.

Picking up on Elsa's obvious alarm, Anna backs off. She takes a deep, eyes-closed breath, then exhales. Having exited rant mode, Anna's voice becomes gentle and reassuring; eyes still closed, she calmly says, "Elsa, I cannot and will not spend the rest of my days without you, always aware that you're so near, yet so far away and all alone, languishing up on top of that desolate mountain. Even if your touch were lethal, I would rather die in your arms than go on existing like that. I refuse to come this close to you, only to turn around and give you up."

Anna looks directly into Elsa's eyes and takes her sister's hands into her own. "See there, big sister? You're safe to touch."

Before Elsa can respond, Anna moves her sister's hands onto her own chest, directly over her heart. Elsa looks concerned and tries to pull her hands off Anna's chest, but Anna prevents her. Anna holds Elsa's hands in place until her older sister stops struggling to free them. After a moment, Anna returns their hands to their former position.

Smiling, Anna says, "See? You didn't harm me."

In reassuring voice, Anna continues,  
"Elsa, you already are quite able to love others; however, what you need to learn is how to love yourself. Deep inside you is a radiantly gorgeous human being who should be cherished, not dreaded. I saw her for just an instant back in your ice palace. I could tell from her smile that she was happy to see me. She was like the old sister I had when I was a little girl, but she was also new and different … and wonderful! My heart leapt with joy and excitement! Just think: I was going to have my old sister and an awesome new one all at once! Then suddenly, right before my eyes, she went into hiding. Let me help you rescue that lovely person. I want her back."  
"Elsa, once you let love control your heart rather than this self-loathing and fear, you will be able to move mountains. I know that in my heart as surely as I know you're my sister. It may take some time, but eventually, you can figure it out ….we can figure it out. Please, Elsa, I'm begging you on my knees, come … back … home."

Thoroughly defeated by Anna's emotional outburst, out of excuses to flee to her snowy abode, and profoundly moved by her sister's consoling words and warm touch, Elsa has become subdued and introspective. As she reflects upon and confronts her past and future, Elsa is suddenly overcome with crushing remorse. The Snow Queen disengages from Anna's hands, turns aside, and suffers in quiet agony.

Shaken by her sister's anguish, Anna begins to understand the intensity of the pain that Elsa has endured over the years, "Oh my God. … Elsa, I never realized. … You were hurting as much as I was, weren't you?"

Elsa doesn't respond. Anna starts to lose her own composure and hesitantly reaches a hand to her sibling, "Mfff … Elsa? … Elsa?"

Elsa looks back at Anna despondently, tears starting to flow freely. She sighs, "My arrogance and my folly are beyond comprehension."  
"Early on, my sequestration was not entirely my own doing. I feared our parents' wrath had I met you clandestinely or even told you through my closed door about the reason for my absence. … Why, oh why did I have to be such an obedient child?"  
"After they were gone, though, I had a clear chance to renew our bond … but I failed to take it. I even steeled myself against emerging to give you comfort at their funeral, leaving you to grieve in solitude. …"

Elsa closes her eyes and bows her head penitently. "That was a sin from which my soul can never obtain absolution."

She looks back up at Anna, tears still streaming,  
"You see, I had come to regard myself as wiser than you with respect to your welfare; so, I continued separating myself from you … from everything … even though my heart desperately yearned to do otherwise. Oh, how I congratulated myself for acting contrary to my inclination, as I was being the model "good" big sister! On occasion, I did consider how you must feel, but I was so full of myself that I put those thoughts out of my mind, under my delusion that I was doing the "right" thing."  
"… And it was all because I could focus on aught but my power's sinister potential. I lived in darkness; so, in my mind, I became a vessel of darkness. Recently, I came to realize that my command over snow and ice could be a thing of beauty. But I nevertheless believed that its strength demanded that I employ it only in isolation, away from society. It has never once occurred to me that I could use it as a force of goodness and light in the world. That I could have both: my power and my nation. … … And my family as well."

Tearfully, Elsa concludes, "All those years, you were reaching out to me, only to be rewarded with my turning my back to you. All those years … I threw them away as if they were nothing. … We could have been together, Anna!"

Choking back tears herself, Anna replies, "I know, Elsa. Mmf. I'd give anything to have that time back. Mmf. But we're together now, Elsa. Mmmf. And we'll be together from now on. We're sisters!"

Visibly trembling and with a tsunami of tears cascading down her cheeks, Elsa extends her arms imploringly to her younger sister.

"Anna … h-h-hold meee …"

Anna decompensates precipitously and totally. As her own tear floodgates open, Anna enfolds her big sister protectively in her arms, "Oh, Elsa …"

The two sisters embrace more strongly and passionately than they ever have before in their lives.

In a heartfelt exchange, the two sisters have difficulty articulating because of nearly uncontrollable sobbing.

Elsa: "Ca-sob-can you sob ever sob for-sob-forgive me, Anna? SOB!"  
Anna: "Sob. Com-sob-pletely and sob with all my h-sob-heart, Elsa. It-sob-it's all be-sob-behind us now. Sob."  
Elsa: "Sob. I lo-sob-love y-sob-you so much, Anna. SOB. Sob."  
Anna: "I lo-sob-love sob you, too. Sob. I'm sorry sob I y-sob-yelled at you. Sob."  
Elsa: "It's sob al-sob-alright. Sob. I de-sob-deserved it. Sob, sob."

The pair shower each other with sisterly caresses and kisses, making up for their lost past. Their intense sobbing sustains itself for an interval, then gradually diminishes as their raw emotion runs its course.

Elsa separates, regaining composure, "Sniff … mmff … Oh, Anna, I've so many amends to make. I don't know where to begi …"

Anna interrupts, holding up a hand, "Elsa, sush! If there are wrinkles in the fabric that binds us together, we both put them there. But we can … we will iron them out later. Right now, let us just enjoy the moment of being with each other again."

Elsa returns a smile, eyes shimmering in adoration for her little sister.

Elsa becomes aware of her appearance and complains, "Sniff … Gracious me, I'm a mess. I must look a wreck."

Anna, composure regained, giggles, "Oh, Elsa, you silly goose! You look beautifuller than you did at the coronation." She winks. A sheepish grin emanates from Elsa.

Elsa's expression morphs into a more contemplative one as she surveys the frozen fjord, hands on hips. She cogitates a bit.

Anna prompts, "Pssst. Note to Elsa, from Anna … Love yourself!"

Elsa regards her hands, thinking some more. After a moment, Elsa displays an expression of confidence, appearing to be, at long last, at peace with herself. She determinedly offers, "Well, then, it appears that I still don't know all I'm capable of. Perhaps I actually can undo all this. Let's give it a shot, Anna."

The two sisters beam at each other as Elsa winds up for spell casting, "'Ere we go. 3 … 2 … 1 … SUMMERTIME!"

…&c


End file.
